Ridley Scott's revisionist take on the Robin Hood story, Nottingham, shows no sign of shaking off its production hiccups. Last year producers were forced to delay shooting following concern that the leaves in the location doubling for Sherwood Forest would not be green enough.

Crowe's failure to lose the weight he gained for Scott's 2008 thriller Body of Lies has reportedly forced the departure of Sienna Miller, who was due to play Maid Marian, as the svelte actor's presence might have magnified Crowe's corpulence.

It doesn't end there. According to Page Six, the famously volatile Crowe – who once accosted BBC producer Malcolm Gerrie when a poem he recited in accepting the best actor Bafta in 2002 (for A Beautiful Mind) was cut from the broadcast – is also trying to get Scott fired from the project. This seems unlikely, given that the actor and director have been virtually inseparable since 2000's Gladiator, but Page Six claims calls have been made to other film-makers to find a replacement.

Furthermore, Page Six reports that Crowe has demanded significant rewrites to enhance his character. "Originally the movie was about a love triangle between Maid Marian, Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham," says its source. "It is now all about Russell's Robin Hood. Literally, 40 pages of script were redone and now are just devoted to him and his massive ego. It's amazing."

If Crowe has asked for additional lines, one wonders if there will be any left for the other actors, since the Oscar-winner is already due to play both Hood and the Sheriff. "One becomes the other. It changes," Scott told reporters last year.

Producers have ruled out any change in director, but confirmed that Miller would be leaving the project.

• This article was amended on Thursday 22 January 2009. Ridley Scott's 2008 thriller was called Body of Lies, not Body of Evidence. This has been corrected.